A team at Harvard University has mimicked the carnivorous pitcher plant’s inner skin design to produce a transparent coating capable of being economically applied to almost any object -- large or small.

The Institution of Chemical Engineers is predicting that desalination plants could become more common on UK coastlines and estuaries by 2050 as population growth and the effects of climate change places increasing pressure on water supplies.

Chris Hardacre, head of chemistry and chemical engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, UK has been awarded the inaugural IChemE Andrew Medal in recognition of his contribution to the field of heterogeneous catalysis.